Does the State of the Union Speech Matter Anymore? Here’s What an Expert Says

Former Clinton speechwriter Jeff Shesol on how the effectiveness of the State of the Union addresses has changed over time — and why.

President Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address at the Capitol tonight at 9 p.m ET. As the third year of Biden’s presidency gets underway in an era of deep political divisions, it’s the first time he will make the address since Republicans won a slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary in the Trump administration, will deliver the Republican response following Biden’s speech.

“It’s not very likely that he can get everyone on the same page about policy. But I think it is his obligation as president to try to mark out areas that at least ought to be common ground,” Jeff Shesol, deputy chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and a partner at West Wing Writers, told Yahoo News. “He should also talk about areas that aren’t common ground. … The American people need to know where he stands on a range of issues and whether or not the Republican House is going to allow the country to make progress on them.”